Ulster Unionists called on to join Policing Board

Ulster Unionist assembly member Duncan Shipley-Dalton has called on his party to take its seats on the new Policing Board.

Mr Shipley Dalton said it was now time to end the uncertainty and back the Policing Board: “Once the SDLP have made such a courageous decision on their part, I think that we have a joint responsibility with them to ensure that the centre ground in Northern Ireland is represented on the Police Board.”

He said that those people who actually wanted policing to work for the benefit of all of the community in Northern Ireland should be prepared to work on the Police Board to ensure that this happened.

The nationalist SDLP party have welcomed Mr Shipley-Dalton’s comments. The SDLP have already agreed to take its seats on the Policing Board and representatives have already held a series of meetings as the party assesses its role on the proposed Board.

Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble who returned from an extended holiday in Europe immediately attended a meeting at Stormont with his party’s Assembly members to discuss the party’s position on the issue.

The UUP have so far reserved its position about sitting on the Policing Board.

However, several senior party members have expressed grave concerns about the policing proposals put forward earlier this month by Northern Ireland Secretary of State Dr John Reid.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein have rejected the policing plan saying that it does not entirely embody in full the recommendations of the report made by the Patten Commission. (SP)